Kuwait Airways (KU, Kuwait) has announced via its official Twitter account that it will suspend its operations to Iran, Italy, and Thailand for the foreseeable future as a result of growing concerns over the spread of the COVID-19 virus in those countries.
On February 20, the airline decided to suspend its flights to Iran "upon instructions from the Ministry of Health and the General Administration of Civil Aviation" due to the "discovery of a number of cases infected with Corona-1 [COVID-19]." According to the ch-aviation schedules module, Kuwait Airways currently offers a 3x weekly service to Tehran Imam Khomeini and a 2x weekly service to Mashad.
Just five days later, the airline issued a similar statement relating to the suspension of its flights to Italy and Thailand. The carrier presently flies from Kuwait to Milan Malpensa 4x weekly and to Rome Fiumicino 3x weekly in Italy. It also offers 2,338 weekly seats to Bangkok Suvarnabhumi on its daily services to the Thai capital city.
According to the BBC, Italy is badly affected, with the largest number of cases in Europe - 231 - and seven people have died. Fatalities in Iran, one of the worst-affected nations outside China, have now risen 15. At 37, Thailand has the third-highest number of confirmed coronavirus infection cases after China and Singapore.
Flights to South Korea have also been banned by the Kuwait Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). However, there are currently no direct services between the two countries.
